Date: Tue, 1 Jul 1997 01:49:46 -0700
From: fkeys@visi.com
Subject: Weatherlight Draft Picks

	After considering the Weatherlight set for top draft cards by color,
I'm surprised by how many of the best cards are creatures.

In black, I find Agonizing Memories to be frequently overlooked.  This
card hurts almost as much as the Hymn to Tourach, especially if your
mana development is denied in the early game.  Infernal Tribute, like
most card-drawing engines in limited formats, is incredibly powerful.
Morinfen is just a fat, cheap black flyer.  Thunderbolt it or die.
Shattered Crypt is another source of massive card advantage.  Finally,
Strands of Night is a combination of card advantage and board control:
how can you go wrong?  Runners up include Odylic Wraith, Razortooth
Rats, and Spinning Darkness.

Blue was harder to find a ton of choices for.  I like Cloud Djinn for
the same reasons as Morinfen.  At the Weatherlight pre-release in Rye
Town, someone next to me convinced me that Fog Elemental was a bad
card and I didn't play it.  Now I call it Psionic Blast.  Mana Chains
is slow, but it's cheap and it's pure creature removal.  Phantom
Warrior is even better than a flyer, and he's only three to cast.
The Vodalian Illusionist is my last pick in blue, with an effect
almost like Time Elemental on a budget.

I wasn't amazed by greens choices, either, and wound up with four
creatures on the list.  The only non-creature card is Call of the
Wild, again yielding huge card advantage.  Fallow Wurm is just too
fast and fat to ignore.  Redwood Treefolk's abilities as both a
blocker and attacker make it an excellent creature.  The Rogue
Elephant can be all you need to kill an opponent having mana trouble.
Finally, Uktabi Efreet works well in decks with lots of green.

Red has so many good choices I had a very difficult time narrowing
down my picks.  I wound up with Cone of Flame because of its card
efficiency.  Firestorm is just a little bit broken in late game
situations if you hold onto some land.  Lava Hounds deliver an
incredible beatdown.  Lava Storm reminds me of Pyroclasm, only
targeted, and does a first-rate job against land-walkers, small
flyers, and token creatures.  Thundermare can be a finisher with a
little burn.

I think white is the strongest color in Weatherlight limited formats.
Empyrial Armor is just plain broken.  Slap it on a small flyer
and finish off your opponent without another play.  Guided Strike is
my all time favorite trick.  Wow.  Heavy Ballista is board control at
its best.  Peacekeeper is the ultimate stall machine when you need
more time to set up.  Finally, the popularity of red cards makes
Southern Paladin's ability ridiculously powerful.

As an added bonus, my favorite artifacts are Chimeric Sphere (Jade
Statue?!), Jabari's Banner, Mind Stone, Serrated Biskelion and
Thran Forge, although I'm not wild about the banner or the forge.
At first I thought Thran Tome was strong, but I truly dislike it in
actual play.  I think the Mind Stone is an excellent way to speed
mana development.  Combos with Serrated Biskelion like Parapet,
Sun Clasp, and so on make it even better.

Regards,
Francis